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The gummint has a hard message to sell. If it claims Snowden did a horrible criminal thing, then it’s saying their collection was a big deal. But they want to claim their collection was no big deal, but that would mean that Snowden’s disclosure was no big deal. Of course they want to claim self-contradictory things: that their collection was no big deal, but that Snowden’s disclosure was a big deal. He’s only criminal if they are criminal.

This clip gets at the underlying assumption, which you have to concede given how technology can leverage the power of any single person so much: every single person is indeed, a POTENTIAL Terrorist. All that it would take is a little motivation for YOU to perhaps do something bad: who could take the chance that YOU don’t have this potential in you, when pretty much every effective person with a cheap laptop does?

So, the State organizes their surveillance depending on HOW dangerous a given person appears to be at the moment. You can’t lock everyone up, and ankle bracelets would be unacceptable, so monitor everyone with a secret program and only pull their strings when the need arises.

The whole process is largely automated until you tick off some combination of red flags, when a human being looks you over, maybe reviews your work in kindergarden. Oh, I really am being silly, right?. Or, someone decides to take a closer look at you because they didn’t like a look you gave them at your bosses fundraiser. Whatever: a system that is not flexible is of no use.

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